Sunday, April 29, 2012

Today's bit of sunshine has been brought to me by a transatlantic flight from New York to Paris yesterday, as well as some cooperative weather on the Paris side.

Flaky not only describes the pastry in the picture, but sometimes reflects my bewildered jet-lagged state after doing one of these back-and-forths between France and the U.S. The "Why am I doing this?" question comes to the surface and I'm then too tired to fight it or respond intelligently to it. So I shrug it off until I get a full night's sleep.

And then I step outside, take a run in the Luxembourg Gardens, buy one of these babies...

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Probably not the Number One reason people come to Paris - to find its oldest tree. Nor to locate the little park in which that tree has lived and thrived for over 400 years, with a lot of support from concrete crutches.

But maybe for its picture-perfect view of Notre-Dame? Definitely worth it as a place to rest the weary feet and munch a sandwich or patisserie and enjoy the view, feeling very far from the crowd.

I discovered this location, Square René Viviani, because one of my classes is in a building adjacent to the park and I usually have an hour break during to which to have lunch there. So I've also discovered that this tiny park has free wifi, along with the plentiful benches, marvelous view, quiet calm AND the oldest tree in Paris.

For the story about the tree, Wikipedia does it better than I would. It's quite something to imagine all the events of Paris history this tree has lived through.

The square is also just across the street from Shakespeare & Co., the well-known English-language bookstore.